


I Hope I Never Have a Daughter

by yourfavoritetsundre



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Teenagers, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-24 15:19:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15633363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourfavoritetsundre/pseuds/yourfavoritetsundre
Summary: “Alright, rule one. No one, and I mean no one, can know who you are. It’s probably dangerous enough already that I know.”“Got it.”“Rule two. Under no circumstances can they know they end up together. Seriously. No teasing, no hints, nothing. We’ve all gone through great lengths to let this develop naturally.”“What? Why?”“Because I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this, but your parents are extremely stubborn. And when either of them is backed into a corner, things tend to go boom. So, in the interests of keeping the team together and keeping them from killing each other if things go south, we’ve all been blatantly ignoring the building sexual tension.”





	1. Prologue

A bright light streaks and burns across the sky, flames erupting as a heavy object crashes to the surface. Some sort of teardrop shaped ship, the curved edges crumpled into sharp angles. White and black, Altean. In spite of the obvious destruction, the top of the pod flings open and a figure is unceremoniously ejected from the inside. 

 

The figure flies through the air and lands in a heap on the dark soil. Black bodysuit and armour with glowing blue chest markings. The suit made a statement by lacking one - no affiliation, no alliance. You don’t know who I work for. 

 

“Couldn’t eject me in the air.” the pilot grumbles, gathering their legs under their torso and getting to their feet. 

 

The helmet comes off with a hiss of pressure release to reveal the face of a girl. Her thick black hair is carefully braided and twisted into a bun at the top of her neck. Her shockingly blue eyes sweep over the wreckage behind her and she groans. 

 

“I am so grounded when I get home.” 


	2. The Crash Landing of Veronica McClain

Pidge wrapped her blanket tighter around her shoulders and sighed, her feet kicked up on her desk in the Green Lion Hanger. Her laptop was running statistical models in front of her. Hunk had left...a varga ago? Two? She didn’t know. 

 

Lance had been in here earlier, wanting to talk about...something. She wasn’t sure. She had been elbows deep in her work. He left behind half a sandwich for her, which she must have eaten at some point. She didn’t know. 

 

She felt a little guilty. Lance was always there for her and she...wasn’t. He tended to turn up needing help when she was not in a position to give it. 

 

An alert came up on her laptop, and she frowned as she reached forward to open the new screen. One of the security feeds outside the ship recorded footage of a large object burning through the atmosphere. They had parked on a planet temporarily, mainly to trade and do some goodwill work. 

 

The object wasn’t disintegrating as it burned like a meteorite. Pidge leaned even closer and pushed up her glasses to watch the crash. A data screen popped up to the side, showing…

 

What was this thing? 

 

There was a lot of quintessence attached to this thing. Quintessence was normal even for inanimate objects, but this had readings that were off the charts even if it was a ship. 

 

She backed the video up and tried to get a clear image of the object. Teardrop shaped, almost like an Altean ship. But there was something...weird about it. It was smoother, sleeker. And energy sparked off it, even before it hit the atmosphere. 

 

She needed to see it up close. 

 

Pidge hit the com button on her desk and called, “Hey, anyone awake?”

 

Silence. 

 

“Hello?” 

 

“Pidge?” Keith’s voice came. He sounded out of breath. “What’s wrong?” 

 

“Something crashed onto the surface. It looks like some sort of fighter jet, but I wanna see it up close.” 

 

“You need back up?” 

 

“It would be appreciated.” 

 

“Alright. I’ll close up the training room and come over.” 

 

Good old Keith. He probably slept less than she did. 

 

“Great. We can take one of those cruisers we stole from Xeralon.”

 

~*~

 

Less than twenty dobashes later, Pidge was in her armor and had her arms wrapped around Keith’s chest as tightly as she could as they dipped and rose over the surface of the planet. There were small hills and ditches everywhere, the terrain made Pidge feel like she was in a small fishing boat in a rough ocean. 

 

Going fast didn’t bother her. Going as fast as Keith wanted to did. 

 

They finally reached the crash site and Pidge slid off the cruiser. She took a moment to stop her legs from shaking and pulled out her tablet. Keith looked around like a sentry. Pidge gave a quiet snort and started to scan the wreckage. 

 

The fire had dimmed to embers, which made it easier to get data. The top of the ship had been removed, revealing a pilot’s chair and the controls and two seats behind it. It was the same layout as the Altean ships they had now, but they seemed...there was something weird.

 

Pidge looked at her data. There was still an excessive amount of quintessence at the site. But oddly...it wasn’t coming directly from the engine. The scan showed her an engine that used a lot less fuel than usual. The excess was coming from the hull of the ship itself. 

 

With a frown, Pidge swung her tablet up to trace the flight path. The screen showed a bright streak of quintessence through the air, up and up, but then ending a couple hundred feet before the atmosphere began. Like the ship appeared out of nowhere and then crashed. 

 

Keith nimbly climbed the hull of the ship and jumped into the cockpit. He frowned at the controls. 

 

“Anything?” she asked. 

 

He shook his head. “This console...it’s like a weird combination of Earth and Altean tech. Even stylistically. Like...all Earthships have altimeters, right? Even deep space vessels. Altean ships don’t bother.” 

 

“Yeah…”

 

“Well, this one does. But the measurements are in Altean.” 

 

“Huh.” 

 

“It doesn’t end there. This pilot’s seat, it’s partially ejected. It’s ejected, but it’s still here.”

 

Pidge frowned. “Huh.” 

 

“What?” 

 

“Well, Hunk’s been working on this idea of a smart eject? Like, if you’re going to crash but you won’t survive the exit, the craft will cradle you through the crash but get you clear before it can blow up. He hasn’t been able to get it perfect, though.” 

 

“Someone stole his idea?” 

 

“I don’t know.” 

 

Keith looked around. “Well, someone survived.” 

 

“What makes you say that?” 

 

“There’s no body. It’s not like it piloted itself here.” 

 

Pidge would’ve never thought of any of this. Keith may not necessarily be book smart, but he knew his ships. 

 

“Let’s tow it back.” 

 

Pidge and Keith clipped anti-grav boosters to the sides of the ship and watched it levitate off the ground, then tethered the ship to their cruiser and headed back towards their ship. A little slower this time. 

 

Neither noticed the dark figure contorted to fit into the gearbox. 

 

~*~

 

Pidge and Keith parked the weird ship in the Green Lion Hanger and Keith immediately went off to bed, or whatever he did at night. Pidge looked longingly at the crashed ship, then yawned. 

 

Okay, call it a night. 

 

She shuffled out of the hanger after Keith, scratching the back of her head as she went. She could look at her new toy tomorrow, along with the data she had been analyzing before. 

 

A shadow…

 

Pidge whipped around. The hallway gleaned back at her, sterile and clean. 

 

Jesus, she needed better sleeping habits. 

 

Pidge took the lift up a few floors and got to her room without any further hallucinations, letting the door slide shut behind her. She took off her glasses and picked through the mess towards her bed. 

 

“Auntie Pidge?” 

 

Pidge turned around and let her fist fly out, connecting with the delicate jaw of a girl who couldn’t be much older than herself. Her head snapped back and Pidge recoiled for a second, then saw the way the other girl was tensing and aligning her arms. 

 

Pidge’s bayard materialized in her hand and she swung it up to hold it to the stranger’s throat. Her skin glowed slightly green, contrasting with freckles across her nose and high cheekbones. Wide blue eyes stared at her in complete shock. 

 

“Oh, man.” the dark haired girl groaned. “I’m in  _ such _ deep shit.” 

 

“Who the hell are you?” Pidge demanded. “And why did you call me Auntie?” 

 

“Uhh...I seem to be lost...I’ll just go now - “ 

 

“Like hell.” Pidge growled, shifting between the girl and the door.

 

“Uhh…” 

 

Pidge swung, knocking the bayard across her forehead. She instantly crumpled and fell back across the mess on the floor. A trash floof floated over and nudged the girl on her nose. 

 

Pidge turned her head sideways. In a really weird way, she kind of looked like Keith. 

 

“God, damn it.” Pidge sighed. 

 

Pidge left her room, locking the door from the outside, and headed up the hallway. She banged on Lance’s door. 

 

“What?” 

 

Wow, okay, she didn’t expect him to be awake. Did anyone on this ship sleep? 

 

“It’s me.” 

 

The door slid open, and Lance leaned against the doorframe, looking exhausted. Some sort of thick lotion was smeared under his eyes like war paint. 

 

“What?” he repeated.  

 

“You alright, Lance?” 

 

“I’m fine. What do you want? It’s like three in the morning.” 

 

“Do you have handcuffs?” 

 

He rose an eyebrow at her. 

 

“Please?” she tried.

 

He sighed. “If I don’t ask why you need them, will you not ask why I have them?” 

 

“Uhh...sure?” 

 

“Hold on a tick.” 

 

Lance backed away from the door and started rummaging in his desk. After a few ticks, he came back with the requested item dangling from his forefinger. “Don’t tell Dad.”

 

“Believe me, I don’t want to remember any of this exchange.” 

 

The door shut in her face. Normal Lance was weird. Three am Lance was just downright strange. 

 

Pidge went back to her room and shut the door before snapping the handcuffs on the girl and putting her in an upright position. Pidge considered her.

 

She should wake Keith back up, along with everyone else, and tell everyone about this. Minus Lance having handcuffs. They could wait for the girl and interrogate her together. 

 

She called her Auntie…

 

Obviously this girl knew her somehow. She also somehow made it to Pidge’s room before she could, meaning she had familiarity with the ship. A spy then? But why call her auntie? 

 

Pidge took off her armour and changed into pajamas before sitting on her bed and waiting. A trash floof floated over and hummed as she scratched the top of its head. 

 

The girl groaned and stirred. Pidge straightened up and set her face in a glare. 

 

“Uhhh….”

 

“Who are you?” Pidge demanded. “Where are you from? Why do you know my name? How did you find my room?” 

 

“Owww… Auntie you hit hard.” 

 

“I’m a  Paladin of Voltron. Stop calling me auntie. Who are you?” 

 

“My name’s Veronica McClain.” 

 

Pidge frowned. “I’ve met Lance’s sister. You look nothing like her.” 

 

“Cause I’m not? I’m named after her. I’m Lance’s daughter.” 

 

“You look nothing like him.” 

 

“So I’m told.” 

 

“In fact you look more like Keith.” 

 

“Yeah, he’s my dad.”

 

Veronica watched the confusion wash over Pidge’s face and shifted to try to get into a more comfortable position. 

 

“But you just said...ohhhhh my God. Oh, my God. Hah! I knew it.” Pidge was laughing her ass off. “They end up together? Christ, if anything I thought they’d just bang a few times and it would end with them trying to kill each other.”

 

Veronica blinked owlishly. “What’s so funny? Papi’s like...disgustingly in love with Dad. My brother says they’re like Antony and Cleopatra.” 

 

“Have you ever read that story?” 

 

“No.” 

 

“Well, it’s about a love so great it’s actually kind of poisonous.” 

 

Veronica grimaced. “That explains why Papi laughs every time Tak says it.” 

 

Pidge sighed and shook her head. “Alright. So, you’re Keith and Lance’s kid. How did you end up here?” 

 

“I don’t know. So, my other brother David is really smart. He designs ships. He combines Altean tech with - “

 

“Earth.” Pidge finished. “The altimeter on that ship.” 

 

“Uncle Hunk told me that it’s traditional. Dad says they’re annoying.” Veronica took a deep breath. “Anyway, he was messing around with this new design and I kinda took it out for a spin? And there was this button.”

 

“So you pushed it?” 

 

“It was a really big button.”

 

“And you had no idea what it did.” 

 

“Well, it made me go really fast. And then I kind of...knocked into an asteroid and lost control and went through this weird wormhole and crashed.” 

 

Pidge sighed. “Then me and Keith showed up and you hitched a ride.”

 

“That was Dad? He seemed so serious.” 

 

“He’s always serious. Are you sure you know him?” 

 

“Yeah, he’s my dad.” 

 

Pidge looked at the wide eyed innocence. “Right. Okay, well, why did you come to my room?” 

 

“Well, I saw you in the hanger, from behind, and I figured you would help me fix the ship before David found out I wrecked it. Obviously, now it’s a little more important I get it fixed so I can go back.” 

 

Pidge rubbed her eyes and tried to place the situation on the ‘weird scale’. This had to be top ten. Especially because the girl rambled like Lance did.

 

Veronica groaned. “Oh, man. David is gonna be so pissed. My dads are going to kill me.”

 

“We have bigger problems. Like getting you back to your time.” Pidge sighed. “I guess I can fix the ship and try to figure out how you got here.” 

 

“You’re going to help me?” 

 

“Well, I am your aunt, so - “

 

“Well, I mean, you’re kind of more like a mother to me? You helped make me?”

 

Pidge looked horrified. “I...oh, my God, ew. No, no - “

 

“No! Not like that!” Veronica hastily held up her hands. “Like...you built the tech so my dads could...you spliced their genomes so that I could be...made. And then you built a...artificial womb.” 

 

“Oh, thank God.” Pidge took a few deep breaths. “I thought I was going to be sick.”

 

“Sorry.” 

 

“No, no, it’s alright.” Pidge rubbed her eyes. “Alright, so...Keith and Lance asked me to...make you. Weird, always thought Keith would want to adopt.” 

 

“Well, they did. My two brothers, Tak and David, they were war orphans. They found Tak like a year after they got married and then David not long after that. Papi says they had me because the other two weren’t pretty enough.” 

 

Pidge rolled her eyes. “Sounds about right.”

 

“Are they here? I always wondered what they were like - “

 

“No, no way. Bad idea.” Pidge shook her head. “Absolutely not.”

 

“I can’t just sit in your room until you fix the ship, Auntie!” 

 

“Look, I can only imagine the sort of romantic lies Lance has been telling you for your entire life. But your dads are kind of a mess at this point in their lives. Lance is in the middle of his ‘Great Bisexual Crisis’ and Keith’s...well, Keith.” 

 

Veronica frowned. What did that even mean? 

 

“Not to mention the fact that they only started getting along like...a week ago. If what you’re telling me is the truth, it’s a long way off, kiddo.”

 

“You’re younger than me.” 

 

“I made you.” 

 

“But still, I can’t just sit around here.” Veronica bargained. “You said yourself, the ship’s wrecked.” 

 

Pidge sighed and pushed her glasses up. “Alright, fine.”

 

Veronica cheered. 

 

“But, there’s ground rules.” 

 

Her face fell. 

 

“Yeah, you’re definitely Lance’s kid.” Pidge sighed. “Alright, rule one. No one, and I mean no one, can know who you are. It’s probably dangerous enough already that I know.” 

 

“Got it.” 

 

“Rule two. Under no circumstances can they know they end up together. Seriously. No teasing, no hints, nothing. We’ve all gone through great lengths to let this develop naturally.”

 

“What? Why?”

 

“Because I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this, but your parents are extremely stubborn. And when either of them is backed into a corner, things tend to go boom. So, in the interests of keeping the team together and keeping them from killing each other if things go south, we’ve all been blatantly ignoring the building sexual tension.”

 

Veronica nodded. “Alright...I can do that.” 

 

“Good. Because if you break either of those rules, I’ll hang you out to dry. I don’t care how close we are in the future.” 

 

And yep, Auntie Pidge was just as terrifying as a teenager. 

 

“Let’s go call a team meeting.” Pidge uncuffed the dark haired girl, and watched her rub her wrists. “Hey, do you know your parent’s anniversary? When they got together, not their marriage.” 

 

“Uh...I think it was some Harvest Festival on Olkari. That’s what Dad said once, anyway. Why?” 

 

“Just curious.” 

 

Pidge started to wonder how much information she could get from this girl to rig betting pools.


	3. The Fathers of Veronica McClain

Lance had gotten maybe four hours of sleep before Shiro was in his room, shaking him awake. He groaned and whined all the way to the lounge, Shiro prodding him forward, where everyone else was already gathered. Pidge rolled her eyes at him as he collapsed into the couch. 

 

Like it was his fault he hadn’t been able to sleep. 

 

He could feel an intense gaze on him, and he ignored it. Closing his eyes again. A sharp elbow dug into his side and he groaned. 

 

“Lance, wake up.” Keith growled in his ear. 

 

Lance frowned and opened his eyes. Keith was sitting next to him? He assumed Keith was the one staring at him. He could always feel Keith’s gazes because they were so intense. 

 

So then who?

 

Lance opened his eyes and found himself looking at a slim girl leaning against the wall. Dark hair, pouty lips. Blue eyes with an unwavering gaze, staring right at him. He was sort of...taken aback. Speechless. 

 

_ Why did he think she sort of looked like Keith? _

 

“Everyone, this is Veronica.” Pidge announced, gesturing to the girl. “She’s uhm...a friend of ours. From the future.”

 

There were a few moments of silence, then everyone was shouting questions at the same time. Fear flashed across the girl’s face. Her eyes darted around, looking cornered. 

 

“Quiet!” Allura yelled over all of them. 

 

They all quieted down instantly. 

 

“Pidge...please explain.” 

 

“Veronica was...testing...a ship her brother built, and something went wrong. She ended up crashing here, not far from us.” 

 

“You’re the one who piloted that ship?” Keith asked. 

 

Veronica’s eyes snapped over to Keith. “Uh, yep.” 

 

His eyebrows pinched together. “...good landing.” 

 

“Thanks. I, uh...learned from the best.” 

 

Pidge glanced at the girl. “Right. Well, she hitched a ride back with us to the ship and asked me for help.” 

 

“Oh.” Lance said. “That’s why you needed my handcuffs.” 

 

Everyone froze, and Lance immediately wanted to disappear. Why, why, did he always find a way to put his foot directly into his mouth? Pidge hid her face in her hands. 

 

“Why,” Keith began, sounding slightly amused but mostly just tired, “do you have handcuffs?” 

 

Lance did not want to tell this story. It was, quite frankly, very embarrassing and stupid. It was probably among the least cool things he’s ever done. Certainly the least cool handcuff story ever. Keith would make fun of him forever if he knew. 

 

So of course Lance made it worse by saying, “None of your business, Mullet.” 

 

Keith scowled. 

 

“Right.” Shiro said, an eyebrow raised at Lance. “How exactly did she get back here without anyone noticing?” 

 

Pidge frowned at the girl. “How did you get back here?” 

 

“I hid in the gearbox.” she said quietly. 

 

“The gearbox?” Keith frowned again. “That’s...a pretty tight space…”

 

“I, uh...I’m really flexible? Like my papi. Dad says we’re freaks of nature.” 

 

Pidge scowled at her, then turned back around. “Anyway - “ 

 

“How do we know she is who she says she is?”

 

It was Hunk who asked the question, but it was on all of their minds. The girl literally fell out of the sky, and snuck onto their ship. Shady didn’t begin to cover it. 

 

“Ah, excellent point, Shiro.” Coran said, leaning towards the girl. She slid closer to Pidge. “How can we be sure she isn’t a spy?” 

 

“I believe her.” Pidge said firmly. “She knows...things. Like how to get around the ship.” 

 

“If she were a spy, she’d know that.” 

 

Lance felt Red pushing at the back of his mind, a fierce, protective presence. He tried to brush her off, but she pushed harder. Lance groaned and rubbed his forehead. 

 

“Lance? Buddy? You alright?” Hunk asked, resting a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?” 

 

“Red...knows her.” Lance said. “Like...she recognizes her...potential?” 

 

“Cause I’m her pilot.” Veronica supplied. “In the future.” 

 

“So, then, that’s how you know all of us.” Shiro concluded. “And your way around the ship. I’m guessing we trained you?” 

 

“Uh, yeah.” 

 

Red pulled away, and Lance was frowning at the girl again. Why did it seem like she was...lying? Or hiding the truth? And why did Pidge keep scowling? 

 

“How long will it take to fix her ship?” Allura asked. 

 

“I don’t know.” Pidge looked away and bit her lip. “It looks like just surface damage to me, but Hunk will have to take a closer look. And then there’s the problem of figuring out how to get her back to the future. Seeing as no one has a DeLorean lying around.”

 

Lance shook his head at the nerd humor and stood, crossing his arms tightly across his chest. “Well, I’m going back to bed.” 

 

“You don’t want to get to know our guest?” Coran asked. 

 

Lance looked back at where Allura and Hunk were practically interrogating the poor girl. Now that no one was yelling or accusing, she seemed bright and talkative. 

 

“Nah, I’m tired.” He turned away. “I’ll talk to her later.” 

 

Lance left, feeling eyes on him again. This girl, this Veronica...she scared him. Or...not scared. Apprehensive? She gave off a weird vibe. She definitely wasn’t telling the truth about...something. He wasn’t sure. Red would only tell him that she knew her, but not who she was. 

 

Veronica was his sister’s name, he thought as homesickness swept through him. 

 

“Lance?”

 

Lance jumped and spun around, finding Keith maybe a few feet behind him. “God damn it, don’t do that!” 

 

Keith looked unimpressed. “Are you okay?” 

 

“I was, until you gave me a heart attack.” 

 

Keith rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry, alright?” 

 

Lance grunted and turned back around. He needed to go to bed. All of this was obviously just a weird dream. Time travel? Really? 

 

“Where are you going?” 

 

“To bed.” 

 

“Why?” 

 

“Because I’m tired.”

 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” 

 

“Oh, my God, Keith. If I tell you no, will you go away?” Lance spun around to see Keith looking at him in shock. “I’m tired, okay? What the hell is so wrong with that?” 

 

“You’re just acting weird. And the handcuff thing - “ 

 

“How am I acting weird? You’re the one who always acts weird. You’re acting weird right now.” 

 

Keith looked frustrated. He was cute when he was frustrated. It had taken Lance a while to realize that he poked and prodded Keith to get those reactions. But Lance wasn’t actually trying for that now. He was tired. He just wanted to go to sleep. And Keith decided to give a damn, which made it all worse.

 

Pidge and Veronica had appeared in the hallway, Hunk peering around the door behind them. Lance realized now that he and Keith weren’t shouting, but their voices were raised. Veronica looked sort of...confused. 

 

“Well - “ 

 

“I’m going to bed.” Lance said for the millionth time. He stormed off to do just that. 

 

He felt Keith’s gaze on him again, and a second equally intense one. It didn’t leave his back until he turned the corner. Once he was in his room, he flopped into bed and closed his eyes. 

 

Damn it. 

 

~*~

 

Veronica sat on the edge of Pidge’s bed while she dug through the mess on her floor to find a spare set of pajamas. Veronica looked a little distressed, but Pidge supposed everything could have gone worse. She expected Lance to unknowingly hit on his daughter, which would have been all kinds of traumatizing. 

 

“Here.” Pidge said, holding out a pair of pants and one of Matt’s old t-shirts. “Hey, you alright?” 

 

Veronica shrugged. “It’s just...weird. That’s all.” 

 

“Your dads?” 

 

“Everyone.” She fiddled with the hem of the shirt. “But them, especially.” 

 

Pidge sat cross-legged on her chair. “What are they like? In the future?” 

 

Veronica shrugged and smiled slightly. “They’re...happy. And they’re in love.”

 

Pidge hummed. 

 

“Papi always...makes us feel at home. Dad says he spoils us but...really, he’s just as bad. Dad can be kind of serious sometimes but Papi always makes him laugh.”

 

Pidge shook her head. “Well, Keith always did love it when Lance made an ass of himself.” 

 

“He likes the leg humor best, even if the rest of us hate it. You hate it the most.” 

 

“Leg humor?” 

 

Veronica looked momentarily horrified. “Uh, nevermind.” 

 

“Does something happen to Lance’s leg?” 

 

“What happened to, ‘it’s dangerous to know about the future’, Auntie? You lectured me for twenty minutes while we waited for everyone!” 

 

“You straight up told me when your parents get together.” 

 

“Yeah, because you told me you were actively not trying to push them together. I figured you were just curious.” Veronica narrowed her eyes. “Also, I figured you’d want to place bets with Uncle Hunk.”

 

A grin broke out on Pidge’s face. “Kid, something tells me you’re my favorite for a reason.” 

 

~*~

 

Lance woke up the next morning and lay in bed for a while. He didn’t want to get up. There wasn’t much of a point. 

 

He got up anyway. 

 

Shiro was in the kitchen drinking coffee when he stumbled in. Lance got himself a bowl of goo and fell into a chair, letting his body flop against the table like a jellyfish. 

 

“Still tired?” Shiro guessed. 

 

“Exhausted.” 

 

“Everything alright?” 

 

Lance slightly lifted his head to see his kind expression. He groaned and dropped his head again. 

 

“I’m here if you want to talk about it.” 

 

Lance wanted to talk about it. He wanted to tell Shiro everything he had been feeling lately. He wanted to tell him how distant he felt, and how infuriating Keith was, and how he felt a disconnect between himself and Hunk, and how tired he was, and how it felt like the battles and the training and the life or death situations would never end. 

 

He just needed proof that it was all worth it. 

 

“Where is everyone?” he asked instead. 

 

Shiro studied him for a moment, then shook his head. “Hunk and Pidge are looking over Veronica’s ship with Coran. They’re also going over the scans Pidge took last night to figure out how she got here.” 

 

Oh, right. Zenon, girl of the 21st century. 

 

“Everyone else?” 

 

“Allura is giving the mice a bath. The girl was in here, don’t know where she went. I haven’t seen Keith yet.” Lance heard him stand. “Lance, I mean it. If you want to talk.” 

 

“Thanks, Shiro.” 

 

Shiro left and Lance straightened up to poke miserably at his goo. Talk? He didn’t have the words. 

 

He ate what passed as breakfast and went back to his room to change into work out clothes. With any luck, Shiro not seeing Keith meant he wasn’t awake, which meant the training room was open. 

 

When he got there, a different dark haired figure was opening the door. 

 

“What are you doing here?” he asked, then wanted to kick himself. 

 

Foot, mouth. So familiar. 

 

“Yoga.” she shrugged. 

 

Lance smiled. “Really? You do yoga?” 

 

“Yeah, every morning.” She defensively crossed her arms over her chest. “My papi says it helps with stress relief.” 

 

“Can I join you? Usually I have to do it by myself.” 

 

A shy smile spread across her face. Why did it seem so familiar? 

 

“Sure.” 

 

They entered the room together, and found it empty. 

 

“So, the future, huh?” he started as they went to the center of the room. 

 

“Yeah.” she sighed. “I’m so dead when I get back. My dads are going to kill me when they find out.” 

 

“Only if they find out.” Lance pointed out. 

 

She scowled. “They’ll find out. They probably already know. Even if they don’t, I know my brother David will rat on me. He designed the ship I took.” 

 

They sat on the floor and faced each other, calmly closing their eyes and starting with deep breaths. Lance tried to focus on not fidgeting, instead starting to slowly bend his torso from side to side. 

 

The door opened and, “What are you doing?” 

 

Lance opened his eyes and twisted to look at Keith in the door. 

 

“Oh, look, Veronica. I don’t know if you were introduced. This is Keith, the Rude Paladin.” 

 

“What,” he repeated, “are you doing?” 

 

“Yoga.” 

 

Keith snorted. “You do not do yoga.”

 

“Uhm, yeah. I do yoga. Everyday after training.” 

 

“You don’t train every day.” 

 

“Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.” Lance scowled. He looked back at Veronica. “Alright, just a basic routine to start, and then we can move into more complicated stuff?” 

 

Keith was still standing there watching them. 

 

“Would you like to join us?” Veronica asked brightly. 

 

“No.”

 

“Then get out.” Lance snapped, fluidly pulling up into cow-pose.

 

Veronica watched the way Keith’s eyes lingered on Lance, before he snorted and left the room. She looked over at Lance and mimicked his pose. 

 

“Are you guys always like that?” she asked. 

 

He sighed. He didn’t want to be. 

 

“Doesn’t matter.” Lance grumbled instead. “Hey, so, does yoga run in Red Paladins?” 

 

She grinned. “Papi says we need it cause we have to keep the Black Paladin in check.” 

 

“Sounds like a smart man.” They changed poses. “Does he worry about you?” 

 

“Who?” 

 

“Your dad?” 

 

She frowned. “Yeah. I mean, they were...kind of upset. When I was chosen. Cause it’s dangerous. But...they’re proud of me. I think.” 

 

Lance nodded. “So the war’s not over, then?” 

 

“I...Pidge says I can’t tell you that.” 

 

Lance pulled a face. 

 

Veronica hesitated. “My dad told me...there’s always going to be a need for Voltron. And it’s always going to be dangerous and it’s always going to be someone’s kid.”

 

Lance snorted. “Now that sounds like Keith. I don’t think he’ll ever leave this behind.” 

 

Veronica carefully avoided his gaze, but Lance didn’t notice. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVE MY STORY IDEA FOR MY S7 FIX IT!
> 
> It's going to be kinda AU, still in cannon, wild stuff. And the way it's set up, I shouldn't have to rush it. I'm just trying to find a good title and working on Chapter 1. Stay tuned. 
> 
> Sorry if this falls to the side as the other one gets going. I've been trying to keep it as a lighter piece but god damn it if our boy Lance isn't a depressed wreck.

**Author's Note:**

> I mean, it seems like everyone else either writes a time-travel fic or a chat group fic. I'm old and I don't know about you kids and your snap chats. In my day we used IM. 
> 
> Also, everyone writes them having a son. You know if they had a daughter she'd be such a daddy's girl for Keith and Lance would be so mad.


End file.
